Meteorology in America, 1800-1870
Meteorology in America, 1800-1870

Author: James Rodger Fleming

Publisher:

Published: 1990

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13:

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Between 1800 and 1870 meteorology emerged as both a legitimate science and a government service in America. Challenging the widely held assumption that meteorologists were mere data-gatherers and that U.S. scientists were inferior to their European counterparts, James Rodger Fleming shows how the 1840s debate over the nature and causes of storms led to a meteorological crusade that would transform both theory and practice. Centrally located administrators organized hundreds of widely dispersed volunteer and military observers into systematic projects that covered the entire nation. Theorists then used these systems to observe weather patterns over large areas, making possible for the first time the compilation of accurate weather charts and maps. When in 1870 Congress created a federal storm-warning service under the U.S. Army Signal Office, the era of amateur scientists, volunteer observers, and adhoc organizations came to an end. But the gains had been significant, including advances in natural history and medical geography, and in understanding the general circulation of the earth's atmosphere.

Historical Perspectives on Climate Change
Historical Perspectives on Climate Change

Author: James Rodger Fleming

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 1998-09-10

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 0198024061

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This intriguing volume provides a thorough examination of the historical roots of global climate change as a field of inquiry, from the Enlightenment to the late twentieth century. Based on primary and archival sources, the book is filled with interesting perspectives on what people have understood, experienced, and feared about the climate and its changes in the past. Chapters explore climate and culture in Enlightenment thought; climate debates in early America; the development of international networks of observation; the scientific transformation of climate discourse; and early contributions to understanding terrestrial temperature changes, infrared radiation, and the carbon dioxide theory of climate. But perhaps most important, this book shows what a study of the past has to offer the interdisciplinary investigation of current environmental problems.

Fixing the Sky
Fixing the Sky

Author: James Rodger Fleming

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2010-08-13

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 0231144121

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Weaving together stories from elite science, cutting-edge technology, and popular culture, Fleming examines issues of health and navigation in the 1830s, drought in the 1890s, aircraft safety in the 1930s, and world conflict since the 1940s.

Americans and Their Weather
Americans and Their Weather

Author: William B. Meyer

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2014-10-08

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 0190212829

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This revealing book synthesizes research from many fields to offer the first complete history of the roles played by weather and climate in American life from colonial times to the present. Author William B. Meyer characterizes weather events as neutral phenomena that are inherently neither hazards nor resources, but can become either depending on the activities with which they interact. Meyer documents the ways in which different kinds of weather throughout history have represented hazards and resources not only for such exposed outdoor pursuits as agriculture, warfare, transportation, construction, and recreation, but for other realms of life ranging from manufacturing to migration to human health. He points out that while the weather and climate by themselves have never determined the course of human events, their significance as been continuously altered for better and for worse by the evolution of American life.

The Callendar Effect
The Callendar Effect

Author: James Fleming

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-01-04

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 1935704044

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Guy Stewart Callendar (1898–1964) is noted for identifying, in 1938, the link between the artifcial production of carbon dioxide and global warming. Today this is called the “Callendar Efect. ” He was one of Britain’s leading steam and combustion engineers, a specialist in infrared physics, author of the standard reference book on the properties of steam at high tempe- tures and pressures, and designer of the burners of the notable World War II airfeld fog dispersal system, FIDO. He was keenly interested in weather and climate, taking measurement so accurate that they were used to correct the ofcial temperature records of central England and collecting a series of worldwide weather data that showed an unprecedented warming trend in the frst four decades of the twentieth century. He formulated a coherent theory of infrared absorption and emission by trace gases, established the nineteenth-century background concentration of carbon dioxide, and - gued that its atmospheric concentration was rising due to human activities, which was causing the climate to warm. Callendar’s contributions to climatology led the way in the mid-twentie- century transition from the traditional practice of gathering descriptive c- mate statistics to the new and exciting feld of climate dynamics. In the frst half of the twentieth century, the carbon dioxide theory of climate change xiv Introduction had fallen out of favor with climatists.

A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America's Hurricanes
A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America's Hurricanes

Author: Eric Jay Dolin

Publisher: Liveright Publishing

Published: 2020-08-04

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 1631495283

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Washington Post • 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction in 2020 Finalist • Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction Kirkus Reviews • Best Nonfiction Books of 2020 Library Journal • Best Science & Technology Books of 2020 Booklist • 10 Top Sci-Tech Books of 2020 New York Times Book Review • Editor's Choice With A Furious Sky, best-selling author Eric Jay Dolin tells the history of America itself through its five-hundred-year battle with the fury of hurricanes. In this “compelling” chronicle (New York Times Book Review), Eric Jay Dolin tells the history of America through its battles with hurricanes.Weaving together tales of tragedy and folly, of heroism and scientific progress, best-selling author Eric Jay Dolin shows how hurricanes have time and again determined the course of American history, from the nameless storms that threatened the New World voyages to our own era of global warming and megastorms. Along the way, Dolin introduces a rich cast of unlikely heroes, and forces us to reckon with the reality that future storms will likely be worse, unless we reimagine our relationship with the planet.

Calculating the Weather
Calculating the Weather

Author: Frederik Nebeker

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 1995-05-18

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 0080528414

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During the course of this century, meteorology has become unified, physics-based, and highly computational. Calculating the Weather: Meteorology in the 20th Century explains this transformation by examining thevarious roles of computation throughout the history of meteorology, giving most attention to the period from World War I to the 1960s. The electronic digital computer, a product of World War II, led to great advances in empirical, theoretical, and practical meteorology. At the same time, the use of the computer led to the discovery of so-called"chaotic systems,"and to the recognition that there may well be fundamental limits to predicting the weather.One of the very few books covering 20th century meteorology, this text is an excellent supplement to any course in general meteorology, forecasting, or history of science.Key Features* Provides a narrative account of the growth of meteorology in the 20th century* Explains how forecasting the weather became a physics-based science* Studies the impact of the computer on meteorology and thus provides an example of science transformed by the computer* Describes three traditions in meteorology:* The empirical tradition of gathering data and making inferences* A theoretical tradition of explaining atmospheric motions by means of the laws of physics* The practical tradition of predicting the weather* Analyzes the increasing role of calculation within each of the traditions and explains how electronic digital computers made possible many connections between traditions

Wisconsin's Weather and Climate
Wisconsin's Weather and Climate

Author: Joseph M. Moran

Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 9780299171841

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The land that is now called Wisconsin has a place in weather history. Its climate has ranged from tropical to polar over hundreds of millions of years--and even today, that's the seeming difference between July and January here. And Wisconsinites have played key roles in advancing the science of meterology and climatology: Increase Lapham helped found the National Weather Service in the nineteenth century; Eric Miller was the first to broadcast regular weather reports on the radio in the 1920s; Verner Suomi pioneered tracking weather by satellite; and Reid Bryson has been a leader in studying global climate change. Wisconsin's Weather and Climate is written for weather buffs, teachers, students, outdoor enthusiasts, and those working in fields, lakes, and forests for whom the weather is a daily force to be reckoned with. It examines the physical features of Wisconsin that shape the state's climate--topography, mid-latitude location, and proximity to Lakes Superior and Michigan--and meteorological phenomena that affect climate, such as atmospheric circulation and air mass frequency. Authors Joseph M. Moran and Edward J. Hopkins trace the evolution of methods of weather observation and forecasting that are so important for agriculture and Great Lakes commerce, and they explain how Wisconsin scientists use weather balloons, radar, and satellites to improve forecasting and track climate changes. They take readers through the seasonal changes in weather in Wisconsin and give an overview of what past climate changes might tell us about the future. Appendices provide climatic data for Wisconsin, including extremes of temperature, snowfall, and precipitation at selected stations in the state. The authors also list sources for further information. Vignettes throughout the book provide fascinating weather lore: o Why there are cacti in Wisconsin o The famous Green Bay Packers-Dallas Cowboys "Ice Bowl" game of 1967 o The Army Signal Corps' ban on the word tornado o Advances in snow-making technology o The decline of the Great Lakes ice industry

Historical Perspectives on Climate Change
Historical Perspectives on Climate Change

Author: James Rodger Fleming

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2005-07-14

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 0199885095

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This intriguing volume provides a thorough examination of the historical roots of global climate change as a field of inquiry, from the Enlightenment to the late twentieth century. Based on primary and archival sources, the book is filled with interesting perspectives on what people have understood, experienced, and feared about the climate and its changes in the past. Chapters explore climate and culture in Enlightenment thought; climate debates in early America; the development of international networks of observation; the scientific transformation of climate discourse; and early contributions to understanding terrestrial temperature changes, infrared radiation, and the carbon dioxide theory of climate. But perhaps most important, this book shows what a study of the past has to offer the interdisciplinary investigation of current environmental problems.

The Palgrave Handbook of Climate History
The Palgrave Handbook of Climate History

Author: Sam White

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-08-10

Total Pages: 651

ISBN-13: 1137430206

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This handbook offers the first comprehensive, state-of-the-field guide to past weather and climate and their role in human societies. Bringing together dozens of international specialists from the sciences and humanities, this volume describes the methods, sources, and major findings of historical climate reconstruction and impact research. Its chapters take the reader through each key source of past climate and weather information and each technique of analysis; through each historical period and region of the world; through the major topics of climate and history and core case studies; and finally through the history of climate ideas and science. Using clear, non-technical language, The Palgrave Handbook of Climate History serves as a textbook for students, a reference guide for specialists and an introduction to climate history for scholars and interested readers.